Gluten-Free Maple Meatloaf

I have some good news. I mean, besides this delicious gluten-free meatloaf recipe. After eight long weeks of no funny business, yours in gluten-and-casein-free bliss is humming to the Stereo MC's and shuffling around our one room casita with a walker. Yup. I was officially sprung from wheelchair status today! Progress with a long o.

High-fiiiive me.

I'm one happy crone tonight. So I'm keeping this short and sweet. Here it is. It snowed today. There's a crackling fire in the kiva. A glass of wine awaits- not to mention- one of our favorite comfort food suppers. A slice of my favorite meatloaf and a generous scoop of warm Champagne Vinegar Potato Salad.

Put the Black Angus beef and turkey into a large bowl and using a fork or spoon, break it apart it a bit.

Roughly chop the onion and carrot into same sized chunks and place them into a food processor; add the garlic cloves; pulse until the veggies are uniformly diced- fine- not too chunky; add them to the ground meat. Toss lightly with a spoon or fork to quickly distribute the veggies. Add the maple syrup, ketchup, balsamic vinegar, eggs (if using), gluten-free bread crumbs, and spices. Mix it all up- but try not to over-mix it into mush (over-mixing makes for a dense loaf).

If the mixture is too dry at this point, add a little more ketchup. If it's feels too wet, add more crumbs. You want a nice stick-together balance. Very ying-yang.

Spoon the meatloaf mixture into a standard size loaf pan and firmly press into place, smoothing and rounding the top of the loaf a bit so that the sides are slightly lower than the edge of the loaf pan (you don't want the glaze spilling over the sides later on).

Bake in a pre-heated oven for 45 minutes. At the 45 minute mark spoon the maple-apricot sauce on top of the loaf. Cover the loaf loosely with a piece of recycled foil, if you like. Bake for an additional 30 minutes or until the internal temperature reaches 165ºF. Allow the cooked loaf to cool for ten minutes or so before slicing and serving.

Karina's Notes:

Add 1/4 cup chopped roasted green chiles or jalapeños to the loaf mixture if you like the meatloaf spicy.

Add chopped cooked and drained mushrooms instead of carrots.

Use chipotle chili powder and salsa for a smoky Mexican taste.

I made this when I was avoiding eggs, so I omitted them; this works if you keep the add-ins diced fine, keep the mixture moist, and allow the loaf to set for 15 minutes before slicing. If you enjoy eggs, add a beaten free-range organic egg to this recipe.